MABO LAWYER - Native Title agreements
affirm the sovereignty of the British Crown
Callum Clayton-Dixon

nganyaywana

First Nations Telegraph talked
to Greg McIntyre QC at the 5th
Annual Native Title Law Summit in
Brisbane on June 17 about Aboriginal
sovereignty in action. Mr McIntyre
assisted Eddie Mabo in his High
Court case which overturned the legal
doctrine of Terra Nullius.
FNT: How do you think the
sovereignty argument and push for a
Treaty fits with Native Title?
McIntyre: Not at all really - Native
Title is based on the assumption of
the sovereignty of the British Crown.
Aboriginal people, if they’re claiming
sovereignty, have to front up to the
Australian Government and say ‘we are a
competing sovereign with you’. That then
has to be recognized at an international
level. Native Title is below that level
and it’s accepting the sovereignty of
the British Crown, and Native Title is
accepted as part of the common law
which the British Crown recognizes.

Greg McIntyre QC (LEFT) assisted Eddie Mabo in his High Court case which
overturned the legal doctrine of Terra Nullius in 1992.

McIntyre: Maybe – they’ll have
to convince the other nations of the
world of their sovereignty. I think the
Australian Government should have
done what happened in the United States
of America in the 1820s, where they
recognized dependent sovereign nation
status [of Native American tribes]. I
think the debate is better framed in the
‘self-determination’ discussion which
goes on at the United Nations.

FNT: Back in the 70s and 80s,
Aboriginal people were marching down
the streets demanding LAND RIGHTS,
not Native Title. Do you think there has
been a big back step compared to the 1976
Northern Territory Land Rights Act?

McIntyre: The Land Rights Act
of the NT gives a much more secure
and recognizable form of tenure which
has similarities to freehold title and the
FNT: Do you think individual legislation also creates a veto power in
FNT: Australia is the only Aboriginal nations would be better relation to mining exploration – so in
Commonwealth country without a off going to the UN to get that sort of those respects, it is stronger than the kind
of title you can get out of Native Title.
Treaty with its First Nations people. Do recognition?
you think there every will be a Treaty?
McIntyre: That’s where it [the listen to FNT’s interview with Greg

McIntyre: I’d certainly like there to recognition] will ultimately come from.
be one. Whether it’s one or many – I
think there’s an argument for having an
overall agreement between the Australian
Government and Aboriginal people as
whole, and there could be multi-tiered
agreements which accommodate the
fact that Aboriginal people are not all
speaking with one voice.
FNT: The Murrawarri people have
made a renewed push for independence,
having declared themselves a republic
and sent a letter to the Crown requesting
documentation proving how the
Australian Government has sovereignty
over their lands. Do you think that is the
sort of action that First Nations people
must take in order to get the sovereignty
argument to the next level?
June 18, 2013

Mabo lawyer native title agreements affirm the sovereignty of the british crown

First Nations Telegraph talked to Greg McIntyre QC at the 5th Annual Native Title Law Summit in Brisbane on June 17 about Aboriginal sovereignty in action. Mr McIntyre assisted Eddie Mabo in his High Court case which overturned the legal doctrine of Terra Nullius.